Summer Sun Award

The absolutely wonderful Shanah Wooldrage awarded me the Summer Sun Award. If you don't know Shanah, you should - she's a delightful blogger, animal lover, writer, mom and she absolutely brightens my day. I love getting emails from her - they always make me smile. In addition to calling out people who brighten our days, there's also a summer fun aspect to it.

Favorite song with summer in the title or the lyrics (give the line): Summer Vibe by Walk Off the Earth. It just makes me want to kick back by the lake. Here's the video if you haven't heard it.


Favorite book about summer: Drac and the Gremlin by Alan Baille and illustrated by Jane Tanner. It's one of my favorite children's books and it tells the story of a girl pretending to be a warrior queen (Drac) and her little brother (Gremlin) who are battling together to save the planet of the White Wizard. It reminds me of the pretend games my bother and I used to play.

Favorite hot summer film: It'll probably always be Star Wars. I remember it came out the summer that I was 11 (yeah...I'm old) and I remember standing in line that went twice around the building in the hot July sun. We got sunburned, but it was totally worth it. However, if we're talking this year's movies, my favorite is definitely the new Star Trek film.


Favorite summer memory: Hmmmm...going on our yearly writing retreat is definitely up there and so is, believe it or not, learning to drive a tractor and hauling hay.

Favorite summer holiday destination: Lake Superior - one of the most gorgeous, magical, dangerous places I know.


What books will be in your suitcase this summer? Let's see...I just read The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken while on our family vacation. It was fantastic. I highly recommend it! And I'm currently reading The Lost Sun by Tessa Gratton and enjoying that as well.

What’s your likely destination this summer? I've already returned from my destination - Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It's the land of wilderness, lakes and very little internet. 

What hottie would you most like to be sharing the hot days and long nights with this summer? Hmmm...aside from the hubby, I'm gonna have to go with Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant.

What? I'm greedy. And I like Brits.


Here are the rules:

1.     Display the Summer Sun Award logo and link back to the blog of the person who nominated you.
2.     Answer the questions listed above.
3.     Nominate further lucky recipients.

I nominate the following people for brightening various areas of my internet and life:     

Leigh Jones
Tess Grant
Lynn Dozema

 

Thursday's Children - Inspired by Finding Joy

Okay, I know, I know. The idea of "finding joy" sounds super crunchy granola, but I'll admit, I am a little crunchy. And to be fair, this post is really more about making joy as opposed to finding it - but more on that in a minute.

I know I'm not alone when I find myself getting bogged down with all the crap that's hurled at us on a daily basis. No matter what side you're sitting on, politics are a giant suckfest. Add in war, terrorist acts, the general cruelty that people show each other on a daily basis, not to mention all the negativity in our daily lives like work stress, health and/or money issues, worry for family members etc., it's really easy spiral into negative thought patterns.

Once you're in that crappy mindspace, it's not a huge leap to think thoughts like, "I'll never figure out this scene/finish this book/get published/find an agent/sell anything."

And once those thoughts take root, writing or even wanting to write is damn near impossible.

So what's a Thursday's Child to do?

Find joy - or more precisely, make it.

When I find myself getting sucked into the ick and wallowing there, I know the only thing that's really going to help is changing my perspective. And the easiest way to do that is to change what I'm focusing on.

The first step is avoiding the internet. No matter how many awesome, amazing things and people are on there, there's a ton of awful, too and it's super easy to fall down the rabbit hole of one horrific news story after another after another after another.

The second step is to write down five or six things that I'm truly grateful for at that moment in time. For instance, at this very moment, I'm grateful for:

Listening to my son sing along to Mystery Skulls in the next room. He's super committed and it's making me smile.

Maureen Johnson's tweets. I haven't read her books yet, but I love her tweets that pop up in the corner of my screen. I just enjoy the way her mind works. (I know this contradicts the turning off the internet suggestion, but it's cool since I'm not currently wallowing.)

Getting a chance to hear amazing songs written and performed by my friend's teenage daughter.

Checking off items on my to-do list.

Knowing that as soon as I finish this post, I have a delicious lunch of cottage cheese and kumata tomatoes waiting for me. 

You'll note that none of these things are writing related. You'll also note that none of them are particularly earth-shattering, either. Of course, I have the big things I'm grateful for like family and friends, etc., but those are constants and even though they're the most important things to me they don't always help me escape the wallowing because I'm more likely to just worry about something bad happening to them. So if I can look at the little things that make me happy in that very moment, it immediately helps to lift my mood.

A lifted mood always inspires me to write!

And  third, for a quick pick me up, I have a couple songs I turn to even though my true musical love is angsty, depressing stuff. I'll share them below in case you need a little pick me up, today.

And now, if you'll excuse me, it's time to write. I'm feeling rather inspired.

Want to join this super awesome blog hop? Here's the Linky:

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